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A First-Time Princess Cruiser's Review of the Emerald Princess

Debbierpof

By Debbierpof,
in Princess Cruises

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Debbierpof

Debbierpof

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It’s been ten long days since we said farewell to the Emerald and came back to reality. :( I thought I’d write a review of our trip with some comments as a first-time cruiser on Princess. We have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Costa. So here it goes…

 

After planning this trip for five months and communicating with fellow cruisers on the roll call, it was finally time!!! Sunday, July 18th, and it was time to board the beautiful Emerald Princess. We arrived at Port Everglades around 11 am – we wanted to get on the ship ASAP so we could try and get on the Chef’s Table (more on this later). The porters were great (I thought they were nicer and more professional than the guys at the Port of Miami). We headed inside and were placed in Group 4. It was very hot, but they had fans going and water available for everyone. The process was painless and we were on board before noon!!! But before reaching our stateroom, my DH got his Ultimate Soda Card (I think it was around $65). The USC is for sodas, juices, mocktails, and hot chocolate. A great deal!

 

So we finally made it to our stateroom – E-731. Yes! We had the coveted mini-suite on the Emerald Deck!

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The room was a nice size with a good layout. We had a suite on the Carnival Valor last year that was larger, but that was a suite.

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The bathroom was a very comfortable size (with a tub). The toiletries were shampoo, conditioner, gel and bar soap.

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And then there’s the balcony… Perfect size! Perfect view! The balcony has enough room for 8 people to be there comfortably. There were 2 chairs with a small table and 2 lounging chairs (short, not long).

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We did not request the egg crate but found the bed to be comfortable. My DH did request extra pillows because he found them flat. Not a problem, our steward (Eduardo) had them there that evening. I called the dining reservations line to get on the Chef’s Table as soon as I walked into the room. The response from the person on the other end of the line – “You’re on a waitlist and we will let you know later if you are invited or not.” Oh well… more later! Hope this isn't too detailed...

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Debbierpof

Debbierpof

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Work really does get in the way sometimes...

 

So we explored the ship for a while before it was time for the muster drill. It was great! No sweating in 95 degree, humid weather. We had to go to Club Fusion. Really roughing it. Yep, those are folks at the muster drill, just chilling.

 

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It was finally time for sail away. The weather was overcast but we were on vacation!!! It was time to visit the Lido Deck, do a little dancing to earn raffle tickets and wave good-bye to Ft. Lauderdale. My DH actually won a $100 casino credit! That's him in the green t-shirt and khaki shorts in the middle collecting his certificate!

 

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Dinner time – we went with Alternate Dining (a first for us). It was a great decision! The food was very good. Compared to the other lines, Costa (while in the Med) probably rivals it. The choices were varied, presentation nice and very flavorful. My favorites: fettucini alfredo (which I rarely eat at home, but had almost every night as an appetizer), any sorbet, any ice cream, lamb chops, soups (tried most, loved the mushroom, not too crazy about the French onion), mussels… I loved that you could order an entree as an appetizer instead. A great way to try different dishes.

 

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Most nights we went to the Michelangelo Dining Room (tried the Da Vinci once). It's a nicely decorated dining room -- one story (unlike the Carnival and RCCL) -- not too ornate. Not sure if this is the norm, but we received a call every day asking if we would like to make reservations. So we did – either 7 or 7:30 pm (depending on the port). We had a group of eight so this made it very convenient for us and we never had to wait in line. Another positive was that we had the same table and servers every time at Michelangelos. I can’t believe I did not write down their names, but the lead server's name I think was Kris from Macedonia, and the assistant was from Bulgaria. Very professional, courteous and funny! They also made great recommendations. They made our dinner experience a pleasure. This picture was taken after dinner on the last evening (everyone has been kissed by the sun!). I even got bunny ears from my new friend from Bulgaria...

 

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We had brought five bottles of wine on board (just checked a wine box and a Diet Coke 24-can box with the porter). We always kept one in the room fridge ready for use. The corking fee is $15. I have to say that they have a very decent wine list and their prices are extremely reasonable. One night we actually had them open two bottles and they corked the one we did not finish and stored it for us for later use. Another quick comment on staff... on other cruises, the only night we saw or spoke with the head waiter was tipping night. On the Emerald, we regularly saw him and his staff really made us all feel very special.

 

Gatsby’s Casino - It’s a relatively small casino, but I thought just the right size with a lot of activities. The staff was great. I only played the penny slot games and actually won about $40 (that’s a lot of pennies). Loved the “smoke free” night but every other night really wasn’t bad.

 

I think this concludes our first day on the Emerald! More to come!

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vickie_bernie

vickie_bernie

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hmmmmm

 

I believe it is the final night as it the Tom Turkey day and often they allow jeans as people are packing or packed and have limited clothes available; however I have seen jeans in the dining room on various nights as well. It really depends on the Matre D'

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pjs9876

pjs9876

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We had E731 the week after you got off! I also had the magnetic note board on the door-funny!

Eduardo did his job but we felt NO personal relationship with him. He missed a few things for us. I felt he had too many rooms/duties. We had a nice cruise. Looking forward to hearing about yours.

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